Learning About Learning Agility - Innovation

1 WHITE PAPERL earning About Learning AgilityBy: Adam Mitchinson and Robert MorrisContentsIntroduction 1 What is Learning Agility ? 2 Exploring the Learning Agility Assessment inventory 3 Learning Agility at Work 5 Tips and Suggestions for Becoming More Learning Agile 8 Learning Agility in Action 11 Conclusion 12 About the Research 13 Further Reading and Resources 16 About the Authors 171In times of change, leaders need to be more agile than ever. Adapting to new business strategies, working across cultures, dealing with temporary virtual teams, and taking on new assignments all demand that leaders be flexible and agile.

2 But what does being agile mean? Are some leaders better at this than others and, if so, how did they get to be that way? Researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL ) and Teachers College, Columbia University investigated these questions resulting in some important conclusions for leaders who wish to thrive in today s turbulent times. IntroductionWhat You Will Learn from This Paper: Innovating: They are not afraid to challenge the status quo. Performing: They remain calm in the face of difficulty. Reflecting: They take time to reflect on their experiences. Risking: They purposefully put themselves in challenging situations. Defending: They are simply open to Learning and resist the temptation to become defensive in the face of adversity. Of these five facets of Learning Agility , leaders consistently report risk-taking to be the hardest to enact within their organizations.

3 Learning -agile individuals tend to be more social, creative, focused, and resilient. They are less interested in accommodating others and are not afraid to challenge norms. Learning -agile behaviors matter to others; managers seem to value those who are less defensive and who are open to feedback; peers and direct reports appear to value those who are more reflective and willing to 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights essential leadership attribute is the ability to re-main open to new ways of thinking and to continu-ously learn new skills. We have long known that a major difference between successful people and those whose careers falter is their ability to make meaning from their experiences. CCL research shows us that leaders who refuse to let go of entrenched patterns of behavior or who do not recognize the nuances in different situations tend to derail, whereas successful leaders continue to develop on the job.

4 We now know that these suc-cessful leaders are Learning agile; that is, they show the willingness and ability to learn throughout their careers, if not their entire understanding has created a revolution in terms of how we view leadership potential. In the past, we have tried to predict an individual s potential for fu-ture success based exclusively on past performance and demonstrated skills and abilities. However, this approach is inherently flawed. Research shows that fundamentally different behaviors are required across organizational levels and that the behaviors that are effective at one level do not necessarily lead to success at the next. Moreover, the rate of change within organizations is greater than ever; thus, leaders are constantly required to adapt. When discussing the issue of long-term potential then, an individual s current skill-set is of secondary impor-tance to their ability to learn new knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will equip them to respond to future challenges.

5 As a result, our focus must shift to finding and developing individuals who are continually able to give up skills, perspectives, and ideas that are no longer relevant, and learn new ones that are. Although our understanding of Learning Agility is growing (see the Further Reading section for exam-ples), research is still in its infancy and there is much work to be done. It is imperative that we continue to evolve our understanding of the concept and seek better clarity around what Learning Agility is, how it can be measured, and what Learning -agile individuals do that differentiates them from others. Ultimately, this work will help practitioners better assess, select, and develop high-potential tal-ent within their organizations. And through a better understanding of Learning -agile behavior, individuals can unleash their own leadership at Teachers College, Columbia Universi-ty, have been working for two years on the Learning Agility Initiative (LAI) with the mission to increase understanding of how Learning -agile individuals behave at work.

6 The current collaboration with the Center for Creative Leadership is a subset of this broader is Learning Agility ? 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 3 Our research supports the view that Learning Agility is a mind-set and corresponding collec-tion of practices that allow leaders to continu-ally develop, grow, and utilize new strategies that will equip them for the increasingly com-plex problems they face in their organizations. The research team at Teachers College, Columbia University, has developed the Learning Agility Assessment inventory (LAAI) to measure what we believe to be the five main facets of Learning -agile behavior. Of these five facets, there are four that enable one s Learning Agility (Innovating, Performing, Reflecting, and Risking) and one that frustrates or impedes it (Defending).

7 A brief description of each facet the Learning Agility Assessment InventoryInnovatingPerformingReflectingR iskingDefendingInnovating The first component of Learning Agility involves questioning the status quo and challenging long-held assumptions with a goal to dis-cover new and unique ways of doing things. This requires one to have new experiences, which provide perspec-tive and an opportunity to grow one s knowledge base of understand-ing. High Learning -agile individuals generate new ideas through their ability to view issues from multiple Agility Enablers Performing Learning from experience occurs most often when we are overcoming an unfamiliar challenge. However, in order to learn from such challenges, an individual needs to be able to re-main present and engaged, handling the stress brought on by ambiguity and ultimately adapting quickly in order to perform.

8 This requires keen observation and listening skills, as well as the ability to process data quickly. Doing so enables high Learning -agile people to pick up new skills more quickly and perform bet-ter than their less agile 2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights of these facets provides insight into the type of be-haviors and actions that individuals high in Learning Agility employ. Learning -agile individuals seek opportunities for growth and are able to process these opportunities in or-der to learn. They are open to new experiences, seek chal-lenges, and are willing to introduce new ideas and ques-tion norms. Moreover, they are able to remain present in challenging situations, performing, and adapting on the fly. Finally, Learning -agile individuals understand that experience alone does not guarantee Learning ; they take time to reflect, seeking to understand why things happen, in addition to what happened.

9 It is important to acknowledge that although each of these facets is important, it is not likely (or perhaps even desir-able) that a person can exhibit all of them simultaneously. However, we believe that individuals must possess each of these components in their repertoire in order to be consid-ered Learning Simply having new experiences does not guarantee that one learns from those experiences, and Learning -agile individuals seem to know this. They are hungry for feedback and spend focused energy processing informa-tion so as to better understand their own assumptions and behavior. They generate deeper insight into themselves, others, and problems as a Being open to experience is funda-mental to Learning . It is no surprise then that we found that individu-als who remain closed or defensive when challenged or given critical feedback tend to be lower in learn-ing Agility .

10 High Learning -agile individuals seek feedback, process it, and adapt themselves based on their newfound understanding of them-selves, situations, and problems. We included this in our measure because highly successful people tend to gain confidence from their successes, but they also risk closing down to out-side feedback as a result. To guard against this inadvertent destructive behavior, defensiveness needs to be measured and understood alongside the positive behaviors associated with Learning has long been interested in behaviors that cause individuals not to be promoted or stall out for long periods in their careers. We call these behaviors derailers. When it comes to Learning Agility , one such derailer is avoiding Learning opportunities when they Another core component of Learning agil-ity involves venturing into unknown terri-tory and putting oneself out there to try new things.